Do You Know the Meaning of Always?
by The Queen of Double Standards
Summary: Sequel to A&F. Gumi and Rin are living happily ever after on the outside. But with Rin's lost memories and Gumi's obsession with returning them, tension is forming between the two. With Rin soon off to university without Gumi, can love their survive? Yuri
1. Wavering Hearts

**Author's Note: This a sequel to my story **_**Always and Forever**_**. Please read that first or you'll be very confused. Also, this is a yuri/shoujo-ai story. So don't read if you don't approve of girlxgirl relationships.**

Chapter One

Wavering Hearts

"Gumi!"

Gumi looked at her girlfriend as the blonde girl ran over from where she'd waited outside the courthouse. The blonde's cheeks were rosy from the early winter chill and thin black gloves covered her hands. Gumi smiled at the girl, awaiting the girl's attack, but Rin stopped right in front of her and stared at her anxiously. Gumi withheld her annoyance for the moment. She'd tease her about it later.

"How'd it go?" Rin wondered, concern in her voice.

Gumi smiled at her and rolled her eyes. "You're such a worrywart. It all went perfectly, dummy."

Rin beamed up at Gumi, her eyes glittering. "That's great, Gumi!"

Gumi smiled at her girlfriend, but she was cut off before she could reply.

"That means that, as of today, you shall call me mother!" Miku commanded, joining the two and poking Gumi on the top of the head. "Got it?"

"No way," retorted Gumi, glaring at the girl with a smile.

"But Teru is now your legal guardian, right?" questioned Miku. "Therefore, he is your father, and I, as his girlfriend, am your mother."

"I'm still not gonna call you that," replied Gumi. "And you'd be my step-mother if anything, and a wicked one at that."

"That's right, Gum-Gum!" Iroha cried, leaping on the green-haired girl's back and glaring at Miku. "Never submit to Miku, meow! Green is the enemy!"

Gumi blinked up at the smaller girl whose head was on top of hers, forming a sort of totem pole. "Aren't I the one with green hair?"

Iroha stopped to think for a minute. "Fine then, we will destroy the pink one together!"

"Isn't that you?" Piko questioned, arriving with Miki, Gakupo, Neru, and Haku.

"Ugh, you people are no fun, meow!" whined Iroha, jumping off Gumi's back and taking her place between Piko and Iroha. "I meant the pink moon, Miku."

"Too late, shorty, you've already lost," replied Miku.

"Miku's so mean!" whined Iroha, sticking her tongue out at the girl while partially hiding behind Miki.

Gumi smiled at her friends, then up at Kiyoteru, who smiled back at her. Before, his smiles would be uncomfortable when they were for her, but, after she'd returned from being missing for months, he'd been so grateful that she'd returned that his affections for her no longer held restraints. And, as of five minutes ago, Kiyoteru had taken over as her legal guardian. Her mother had moved away, and, after Rin had finally forced her to come forth to the police about her relationship with her brother, her home had been deemed unsuitable.

It had been a few months since the day when they'd all returned to their homes. The students had quickly returned to taking regular classes. However, Rin and Miki were a year above all the others as the two had missed less classes than the others. The rest of the students had missed too much of their second year of high school and had been forced to repeat the year. They would all meet in Kiyoteru's classroom for lunch, though, so it wasn't like they didn't get to see each other anymore. Plus, their groups of friend had grown larger since they'd returned.

"Hello Kitty is stupid," Neru mocked, standing on Iroha's left.

"Stuuuuupid," Miku repeated, standing on Iroha's right.

"You two are such bullies!" whined Iroha. "Go away! Piko! Make them go away, meow!" Iroha's big, tear-filled eyes stared at Piko. Miki giggled as he sighed and stepped between Miku and Neru. He lifted Iroha up into his arms, carrying her away with minimal evident effort.

"Piko's been working out," Haku remarked as Neru came to her side.

"Protecting Iroha requires constant attention and strength," Piko sighed. "And you two aren't making it any easier."

Miku and Neru stuck their tongues out at him.

Neru and Haku had been placed in Miku's class this year, and the three, especially Neru and Miku, had bonded. In another class was Piko and Gakupo. Gakupo and Piko had always been pretty close, and they spent a lot of time hanging out together since they were the only boys in the group and were _never_ invited to sleep overs. Unless Iroha was hosting it since it would be rude to kick Piko out of his own apartment. Gumi and Iroha were in Shion-sensei's class this year, and Rin and Miki were a year above everyone else in Kiyoteru's class.

"Rin!"

Gumi froze and plastered a smile to her face as the group turned to see a girl with blue and purple hair racing toward them, waving a hand to them with a cheerful smile.

"Aoki!" Rin cried out happily, racing to meet the girl and taking her into a strong hug, a hug that Gumi hadn't gotten, much to her displeasure. "What are you doing here?"

"Daddy was just dealing with something and dragged me along," the girl replied, smiling at Rin. Aoki's face flushed red as her vision flashed across the watching crowd before swiftly returning to Rin. "So, I haven't met all these people yet, Rin. Care to let me in?"

"Oops, sorry," Rin excused, laughing as she spun herself and Aoki toward to crowd. Rin herself hadn't remembered all these people six months ago, despite having been friends with a few of them for years. The girl's memories had been abolished around that time in an event Gumi preferred to forget about. "Aoki, you know Gumi, Miki, Iroha, and Piko. This is Gakupo, Miku, Haku, Neru, and my teacher, Hiyama-sensei. Everyone, this is my friend, Aoki."

Each person nodded, smiled, or gave a quick hello when their name was called. Gumi felt herself growing tense at the red flush on Aoki's cheeks. But, before she could act, Iroha grabbed her hand and subtly shook her head in warning. Gumi scowled at the girl before forcing herself to smile for Rin's friend.

"Hi, my name's Aoki," Aoki introduced herself, her hair falling prettily as she bowed politely. "Rin helped me out when I was in a bad situation, once upon a time."

Rin's eyes momentarily darkened at those words, recalling one of the fews events that still survived in her memory, but her cheerfulness was soon returned. "Let's forget about that, Aoki. So, anyway, before you go hitting on anyone, everyone, lay claim to your partner."

"Miki's mine!" Iroha and Piko shouted at the same time, each grabbing onto one of Miki's arms. Sparks of rivalry flashed between them as they glared at each other.

"Um, Miki can explain that one to you sometime," Rin replied at Aoki's perplexed expression. "I don't even quite understand it."

"My girlfriend is . . . . She's just not here right now," said Gakupo weakly, his eyes sad. Gumi hated seeing him like that. He still referred to Luka as his girlfriend, though she'd been found dead months ago.

"Teru is mine!" Miku announced, grabbing onto Kiyoteru's arm.

"Miku," he mumbled, looking around himself. "Be careful what kinds of things you tell strangers, and out in public at that."

"It's okay, she's Rin's friend," Miku replied, nodding to prove her certainty.

"I don't think being Rin's friend is a good evaluation," Piko commented, earning a glare from both Rin and Gumi. "If I remember correctly, her last friend is the reason we're all still in second year."

"I'm in third year, actually," Miki pointed out with a smile.

"The boys have no excuse for being held back; they just decided not to go to school," Iroha remarked snobbishly.

"Idiot," Piko grumbled.

"Love you too, Piko," Iroha sang cheerfully, smiling at the boy.

"You have crazy mood swings," Piko commented.

"I'm confused," Aoki told Rin, struggling to keep up with these new people.

"You'll learn to keep up," Rin commented.

_She's going to be with us that often?_ Gumi wondered, though she didn't say anything aloud of course.

"Haku is mine. Touch her and die," hissed Neru, grabbing onto the silver-haired girl, whose face flushed with utter embarrassment.

"Oh," Aoki said, startled. She shifted uncomfortably "So, um, you guys are like that, then?" Aoki had only actually spent time with Rin in the last six months. Even Gumi barely knew the girl

"Not just them," Gumi replied, taking Rin's hand possessively and dragging her a step closer to herself and a step further from Aoki. "Rin's my girlfriend." There was a challenge in her words that went unnoticed by Aoki.

"It's great that you guys are so open about it," Aoki offered, smiling despite her obvious discomfort at the sheer amount of taboo relationships around her.

"Gumi," Rin murmured, upset. She'd seen the jealousy in Gumi's eyes. Gumi smiled for her, but Rin wasn't fooled. So Gumi looked away and released her girlfriend's hand.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Gumi told her. "I'll be right back."

"I have to go too, meow!" Iroha cried out triumphantly.

"We're so proud of you, Iroha," Miku said, tapping Iroha on the head patronizingly. "Soon you'll have no more need for diapers."

"I don't use diapers!" Iroha cried out, her face bright red.

"Sure you don't," soothed Neru.

"Stop spreading lies, meow! You're gonna make Aoki think I'm weird!"

"And that would be a lie?" Neru wondered.

"Agh, shut up!" She grabbed Gumi's hand and dragged her back toward the building. "C'mon, Gum-Gum, I gotta pee!"

Inside the building, Iroha dragged them immediately into the bathroom. Then, she stared at Gumi, scowling, but the fact that she had to look up at Gumi to make eye contact made her seriousness less threatening.

"Don't be jealous," Iroha instructed.

"I'm not," Gumi replied stubbornly.

"Rin doesn't like it when you're jealous. She hated when you and Len would fight, right?"

Gumi looked away, feeling a sharp pain in her heart. "Please don't talk about that, Iroha. I want to forget about him."

"Then forget about him," Iroha replied sharply. "You're the one who's keeping him alive."

Gumi refused to look at the girl, who pouted and said, "Anyway, I actually do have to pee, so wait here, okay?"

As Iroha ran into a stall, Gumi turned on the tap and began washing her hands with the pink liquid soap. She stared at herself in the mirror, imagining for a moment that she was seeing Len instead. She lifted her fingertips to the glass and touched them gently to the cold surface, wondering if they'd go through. But they didn't.

Leaning over the sink, droplets of water fell from her eyes, into the accumulating mass, as she stared at the mirror. "I hate you," Gumi murmured to the him that she imagined in the mirror, her voice inaudible over the running water of the sink. "So why do I miss you so much?"

**Author's Note: This has been sitting around since the time when I wrote Give Me Thirty Minutes, which were both done in procrastinating my NaNoWriMo. I missed these guys. Aoki will be a major character, along with Lily later. Sigh. I'm satisfied. Hope you guys enjoy it! I'm aiming for 30 chapters like last time because I've planned out the story somewhat so I think I can make it. Neru and Haku will be in it, too, more than in Always and Forever.** **So, reviews please? To motivate me so I'll write an extra chapter and you won't have to wait for the regular updating day, which is Thursday?**


	2. Yearning Bodies

Chapter Two

Yearning Bodies

As their lips mashed against each other, Rin fumbled for the television remote on the couch where they lay. As great as Doraemon was, it wasn't exactly the atmosphere she and Gumi needed right now. Gumi, repositioning herself so that Rin was underneath her, caught on to what the girl was trying to do and, while continuing to run her lips along her girlfriend's exposed neck, slid her hand under Rin's back, where the remote lay, and quickly muted the television. Rin shivered as Gumi's fingers brushed against her back. The green-haired girl then tossed the remote away and focussed fully on her girlfriend, much to Rin's satisfaction. Rin ran her fingers through Gumi's hair, completely caught up in the other girl, until the door opened.

Rin and Gumi stopped what they were doing to look toward the door, where Miku and Kiyoteru stared back at them, Miku's feet lifted off the ground as she was held in a princess hold in the teacher's arms. They'd obviously been just as interrupted as Rin and Gumi. Rin's face turned a beet red as the four stared off awkwardly for a moment. Then, Miku descended to the ground and cleared her throat.

"Well, as this is Teru's house, I believe we should be first in line to use it to, uh . . . ." Even Miku wasn't brave enough to finish the sentence.

"Well, wicked-step-Miku," Gumi replied defiantly, still hovering above Rin, where they'd frozen when the other two had entered, "this is my home, too, and I have the right to spend as much time here with my girlfriend as I want."

"Gumi, let's just go," Rin mumbled, unable to make eye contact with the new arrivals. Gumi stared at her and pouted, not wishing to stop. Rin smiled delicately, making promises for a later date. Gumi sighed resignedly, and Rin told Miku and Kiyoteru, "We're going to Piko's and Iroha's. See you later, I guess."

Then, Rin had let Gumi lead her outside while the four avoided making eye contact. Once they were out of earshot, Gumi whined, "Why are we going there? We can't . . . you know, there."

Rin's face burned a deeper red and she replied, "Iroha actually wanted us to come over today."

Gumi sighed. "Fine." As they descended in the elevator, Gumi pointed out, "They're probably going to think we get turned on by Doraemon."

Rin smirked at her girlfriend, still feeling that sensation she'd had on the couch lingering, and reached up to loop her arms around her neck and kiss her. Pulling away, she looked up at the other girl through her eyelashes and smiled flirtatiously. "Does it really matter what turns us on, Gumi?"

"Not at all," replied Gumi with a smile, her eyes searching Rin's hungrily. Then, she glanced up at the camera. Rin decided to lock her gaze to it as well as Gumi proclaimed, "That's right, like real live porn, huh?"

Rin's entire face burnt at those words. Once again, she was reminded of something Gumi had told her when she'd been trying to teach Rin all she'd forgotten. Though Rin couldn't remember it, she knew that she was no longer a virgin, and the one she'd given it to was Gumi. She spent more time than she'd like to admit thinking about it, but, like today, something always seemed to happen the moment they even got close to it.

"Those don't look like innocent thoughts in your head, Rin," Gumi teased, drawing Rin out of her trance. "You might give us away."

"That's okay, your hair pretty much give us away, anyway," Rin stated coolly, walking out of the elevator quickly, bemused, as Gumi swiftly stopped to fix her tangled hair in the elevator's mirrored walls.

. . .

"Get out, get out, get out!"

That was what Iroha was screeching as Rin and Gumi made their way to her apartment. The two exchanged questioning looks as Piko stumbled out the doorway and had the door slammed shut against his back. He sighed and slumped against the door. Rin wondered why he wasn't trying to get inside. Surely he didn't plan on sitting out there until Iroha invited him back in.

"Yo, Piko," said Gumi to draw his attention. Piko looked up at her, startled. "Watcha doin' on the floor?"

Piko sighed. "Hey guys. Nothing to worry about, Iroha's just moody."

"Why's that?" Rin wondered curiously. Piko stared at her, confused. Then, he seemed to remember something and his expression changed to understanding. Rin hated that. She'd seen that many times since returning here. That meant it was something she would have known if she still had her memories.

"It's her time of the month," Piko replied. "I asked if she wanted me to go to the drug store and pick up anything for her, then she had a temper tantrum."

"Piko!" screamed Iroha, pulling the door open abruptly and sending Piko falling backward. "Piko, there's a spider, meow! Kill it for me!"

"Iroha," groaned Piko, rubbing the back of his head, which had banged against the wall. "Can't you give me some warning next time?"

"Kill it, kill it, kill it!" shrieked Iroha, running outside and cowering behind the fallen boy. "It's on my limited edition Spring 2009 Hello Kitty, meow!"

"Like I known what that is," replied Piko with a role of his eyes.

"It's gonna kill her, Piko! You have to save her, meow!" Iroha's eyes were teary as she looked down at him. Rin blinked to regain control of her senses after being so thrown off by Iroha's sudden appearance. The smaller girl had yet to notice Rin and Gumi standing there.

"I'm going," Piko sighed, laughing a little. Iroha stayed outside and peered to wherever he disappeared to before finally squealing with joy and running inside.

"Yay!" the girl cried. "I love you, Piko!"

Rin jumped a little when Gumi took her hand to lead her inside. Iroha was definitely having mood swings, for, when they went inside, she was practically purring as she rubbed her cheek against Piko's, repeating how much she loved him over and over again.

"Heya, Iroha," Rin said to get the girl out of her infinite cycle of I love you's. Iroha jumped over and attacked Rin with a hug that knocked her onto the ground.

"Rin!" she cried, looking down joyfully at the girl. "Rin, you and Gum-Gum were just making out, weren't you, meow?"

"W-w-what?" gasped Rin, her face going red again.

Iroha smirked at her. "You have lipstick on your neck, and I have no idea how else it would have gotten there. And it's Gum-Gum's colour."

"Quit causing trouble, idiot."

Iroha was quickly dragged off Rin as Neru and Haku entered the apartment. Neru grabbed the smaller girl by the collar and lifted her into the air to scowl at her as Iroha let out a hiss and swiped at the girl. Neru scowled at her.

"You're not a cat, idiot," she stated, unimpressed.

"I am, meow! Didn't you hear me hiss?" she questioned.

"Not very scary," Neru stated.

"You're so mean, meow!" Iroha dashed over to Piko and grabbed onto his arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "Piko, destroy her! She's a bully!"

"Please don't Piko!" begged Haku, coming to his over side and twining her fingers together as she clasped her hands before her. "Neru doesn't mean it, she really doesn't!"

"Meow, she did, Piko! Do it!" hissed Iroha, glaring at Neru, who had fallen onto the couch, relaxed, with a smirk on her face.

"Oh please, Piko, I'll do anything!" requested Haku desperately.

"Piko, remember which one of us you kissed!"

"I-I'll make you lunch every day!"

"I already do that so ha! C'mon, Piko, meow, you know you wanna!"

"So, Rin, Gumi, what's up?" Neru asked, drawing the couple's gaze away from the exasperated Piko and his harassers to where the yellow-haired girl lounged on the couch.

"We were kicked out of Teru's place so that he and Miku could be alone," Gumi replied casually. Rin's cheeks burned as memories of what they'd been doing flooded her brain, and Neru didn't miss it. The girl smirked at her.

"Don't call him Teru," Rin complained swiftly before Neru could speak. "He's still my teacher and it's weird enough as is."

"Ugh, too much time with Miku," replied Gumi, sticking out her tongue. She must not have noticed that she'd called him that.

Then, Rin felt her phone vibrate and pulled it out of her jeans pocket. She didn't bother to check the ID before answering and saying, "Hello?"

"Come shopping with me."

Rin smiled at the phone and laughed. "I'm already taken at the moment, Aoki. How about later?" She pretended not to notice Gumi carefully following her reactions. Rin turned her back to the group to concentrate on the phone.

"But we're going _now_, Rin!" whined the younger girl on the other side of the line. "I seriously don't know what I'll do if we go by that place! It'll be so mortifying if I have an episode, and I know I'd be okay if you were there with me! _Please_, Rin?"

In the back of her mind, the sound of a gunshot rang through Rin's ears. Her smile faltered for a second before she coated it was a false cheeriness. "What am I gonna do with you?" she wondered.

"So you'll come?" Aoki squealed joyfully.

"Yeah, I'll come," Rin replied with a small roll of her eyes.

"Yay! Meet me at my house in ten minutes, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there."

"Hurry up!"

Rin withheld a giggle as she hung up and turned back to her friends, who she could feel watching her through their discussions which had continued while the girl was on the phone. Gumi's eyes on her were the worst of all. Her gaze was almost incriminating, as though she'd just caught Rin cheating on her or something. Gumi didn't understand. She didn't share that memory, the one memory that had remained in the back of Rin's mind to be dug up late at night when she was alone. She wasn't there when Rin had killed that man.

She'd killed two men now, actually.

"So you're leaving then?" Gumi questioned, her voice accusatory.

"Sorry," was all Rin said, bowing a little to her girlfriend. "Aoki really wants me to come."

"Where are you going?" Gumi drilled.

"Shopping. Calm down, Gumi," she couldn't help but add, feeling a little annoyed.

"I am calm. I just don't understand why you haven't invited me to come along. I'm your girlfriend, after all."

Rin shifted uncomfortably, but she kept her eyes locked to Gumi's, refusing to back down. "She's going with a bunch of friends, so it's not really my place to offer."

Gumi scowled a little. "Will I see you later tonight, at least?"

Gumi was offering her a way to make up for this, and Rin didn't want to fight, so she was quick to take it. She grinned flirtatiously and replied, "Only if you can get Hiyama-sensei and Miku out of the house."

Gumi smirked at her. "Is that so? Will do."

Rin waved a farewell to her girlfriend and left. The moment she was out the door, she heaved a great sigh. It was so hard to keep Gumi happy. She loved her, of course, but, sometimes, the girl was just plain difficult.

Rin let out a groan of annoyance when her phone buzzed again. She pulled it out, answered, and offered a swift greeting.

"Rin, when are you coming over?" Miki questioned. "We have to get to work on our college applications."

Darn it. Rin had completely forgotten about that. "Sorry, Miki," she apologized. "I completely blanked and made other plans."

"Gumi can come, too, it'll just be really boring for her," Miki offered.

"Actually, I'm going to see Aoki right now and then I'm going back to Gumi's after."

Miki went quiet for a minute, then she wondered softly, "Are you going downtown?"

Rin was equally quiet as she replied, "Yeah."

"Will you be okay?"

Rin smiled, even if the girl couldn't see it. "Of course. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. But you're coming home with me after school tomorrow, got that?"

"Got it."

"Good. Now go. Don't keep Aoki waiting."

Rin smiled again. At least someone understood. "Thanks. Talk to you later."

As the other line was replaced by a dial tone, Rin hung up. Then, left alone, she felt a familiar darkness take over her heart. For a minute, she stood still, trying to force her mind to remember things forgotten, but she couldn't remember anything. She didn't remember any of these people. They treated her like a close friend, someone they'd known for a long time, and she tried to treat them the same, but, in some cases, she felt like they were acquaintances at most. Especially the boys, Gakupo and Piko. She couldn't look at them and not see Len, his body falling limp as the poison made its way through his veins.

She had blood on her hands, and she couldn't get it off.

**Author's Note: This is what happens when I listen to Hold It Against Me by Alex Goot while writing (whilst my mother laughed at the cheesiness of some lines). That is all. Other than the end, of course. That most definitely was not from the song.**


	3. Concerning Ideas

Chapter Three

Concerning Ideas

Gumi rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she waited for someone to answer the door. For the hell of it, she decided to ring the doorbell a few more times in quick succession like some bratty little kid. In any case, it brought on a shout to be patient, and the door swung open. She smiled breezily at the boy, whose long purple hair was left loose for the first time she'd ever seen, hanging around him in tangles. It looked even longer than hers had back in middle school. She almost had to laugh at that. He was a boy, after all.

"Good morning, Gakupo," she chirped cheerily. "Did I wake you?"

"It's Saturday, the one day I don't work," he replied, his violet eyes flickering in annoyance as he stared at her.

"So you had to get up anyway!" she inferred incorrectly, which was quite obviously on purpose. "Well, that's what friends are for, right?"

Gakupo gazed at her witheringly. "Goodbye, Gumi."

Gumi stuck her foot in the way as he tried to close the door and slipped into his house. She kicked off her shoes and grabbed a pair of slippers, gazing around herself with a smile as she made her way from the house's entrance to further inside.

"Gumi," he groaned. "I didn't invite you in."

"I know, and I forgive you for that," she said, smiling. "I've never been inside your house before, Gakupo. Isn't that funny?"

"We've never been all that close," he replied. "We're only friends because Miku and Luka are friends. We never spend any time alone together, either."

Since he'd obviously just woken up, Gumi overlooked his referring to Luka in the present tense. She glanced back at him, seeing that he still stood at the door, leaving it slightly ajar as though that might push Gumi to leave. She pouted. "Well, I thought we could hang out today."

"Why today?" he wondered, the light gone from his eyes as he stated, "It's not any anniversary in relevance to Luka, so you have no reason to be worried about me."

"Jeez, Gakupo, you're so suspicious!" she exclaimed, growing a little uncomfortable due to the grief in his gaze. She couldn't help but feel guilty, despite the fact that it wasn't her fault. Still, everyone but Luka had returned to this world. It must have completely broken his heart, worse than it had already broken when he'd believed Luka to be dead already. "Do you really think so little of me, you jerk?"

He studied her carefully. She gazed back at him evenly, resisting the urge to squirm. "You want something from me."

Bullseye.

"I need your car," she begged, smiling cautiously at him. She didn't let her previous dark thoughts show in her gaze and returned to her relaxed, irresponsible self instead.

"Why?" he questioned.

"I need to get downtown and Kiyoteru refuses to let me go, so I gotta sneak off."

"Do you have a licence?" Gakupo questioned.

"Ahaha," Gumi laughed nervously, peering at Gakupo with an embarrassed smile. "Not really. I was worried I might run over people who look too much like . . . ." She trailed off, her joy fading as Len's face flickered in her mind.

"I see," he said, though it was clear that he didn't. Much like Piko, Gakupo had no idea about everything that had happened with Len. Miki and Iroha had stated that they wanted to keep it a secret from Piko, and Gakupo had been through so much already. It just didn't seem right to burden them. "Well, Gumi, I'm not loaning you my car."

"Please, Gakupo!" she pleaded desperately. "I really, _really_ need to go downtown!"

"And why is that?" he questioned coolly, obviously not believing she had any reason whatsoever and that she just wanted to go drive around aimlessly. Or make out with Rin, either or. Actually, the latter sounded quite appealing . . . . But, no, she had a job to do today.

"I, uh." Gumi stopped there, not sure how to properly explain it. In the end, she opted to go with, "There's someone who I desperately need to see."

. . .

"Thank you, Gakupo."

"You're buying me lunch."

"I know."

Gumi sat in the passenger seat of Gakupo's car, gazing out the front window, as he drove. He'd refused to relinquish his car to her, but she'd managed to get him to drive her. If anything, having Gakupo with her might make this easier. She peered at his long purple ponytails and dismissed that thought. Never mind that. Maybe if she pretended to be his girlfriend it would work better.

"So who is it that you so desperately need to see, anyway?" he finally questioned, appearing to have lost patience in waiting for her to bring it up herself.

"Oh, just someone," Gumi said innocently, having absolutely no way to explain who it was she wanted to see.

Gakupo grew tense, and the car began to slow. Gumi wasn't sure if he was conscious of this or not as he drilled, "Are you cheating on Rin?"

"What?" Gumi exclaimed, absolutely, completely offended that he'd even consider something like that. She glared at him viciously. "Of course not, you jerk! I love Rin with all my heart and I always will! I'd never cheat on her!"

"Well, I thought, maybe, since Rin got amnesia, you might have started to lose interest," Gakupo excused himself, though it was obvious that he didn't completely believe her.

"Rin and I will be together, always and forever," Gumi hissed, growing defensive. Gakupo didn't understand anything. He hadn't been there for all that Gumi and Rin had gone through together. He didn't know the strength of their relationship.

"And what about when Rin and Miki go off to university in half a year?" Gakupo interrogated. "Even then, you'll be together?"

"Always and forever," Gumi repeated through gritted teeth.

He sighed and glanced at Gumi before turning his eyes back to the road. Gumi stared at him fiercely, challenging him to say more, which he did. "Look, Gumi, you need to look at this realistically. A high school relationship isn't going to last after one of you has to leave."

"She's not leaving!" Gumi insisted. "I'll still be able to visit her all the time if she goes to Tokyo University like she planned."

"She planned that before she lost her memory, Gumi. How can you be certain that that's still where she plans to go?"

"Because we've discussed it, moron."

"And how can you be sure that she's not just telling you what you want to hear?"

Gumi had had enough. "Pull the car over. _Now_."

"You can't just get out of the car because you don't want to answer my questions." He sighed. "Look, Gumi, I just want you to be prepared. Something may happen, and you two might break up. You have to know that it isn't the end of the world." His eyes grew sad, and Gumi knew that he was thinking about his deceased girlfriend when he said, "There _is_ life without her."

"So you went from me cheating on her to her breaking up with me?" the greenette wondered, narrowing her eyes at the purple-haired boy. "You're some kind of pessimist, Gakupo."

"I really care about you, Gumi," he said sincerely, his eyes locked on the road as she gazed at him. "You and Rin both. I just want to help prepare you."

"Well, there's nothing to prepare me for. Whether it's five years or fifty in the future, Rin and I will always be together. We've been in love for years, and it's not going to just suddenly end."

"And her amnesia won't affect that?" the devil's advocate inserted.

"Of course not," Gumi said snobbishly, absolutely certain. He didn't understand how strong their love was, hers and Rin's. Even without her memories, Rin had come to find Gumi after the blonde had been set free. When Len had obliterated all that Rin remembered, Rin had claimed that the only thing she remembered was that, no matter who Gumi was, it was Gumi she loved, and she loved her unconditionally. Gakupo just didn't understand.

_Besides,_ she couldn't stop herself from thinking, _if anyone's going to mess up our relationship, it's that Aoki girl._

. . .

"Is your name Lily?" Gumi asked the woman while Gakupo hung back awkwardly, his face bright red. Gumi had been doing this for the last hour, and she'd yet to find the woman she was looking for. Gumi wished she could explain to Gakupo, but he'd never understand . . . . Then again, if he had somehow come up with some reason for her to be chatting with prostitutes, there was a problem here.

"Depends how much cash you've got on you," the woman replied, which wasn't an unpopular response so far.

"Not like that," Gumi sighed. "Look, do you happen to know anyone named Lily?"

"That'd be me."

Gumi spun around to a girl with silken blonde hair falling down around the small of her back as she made her way past Gakupo, a scowl on her red lips and a discontent look on her face. The girl stopped a little ways away from Gumi and placed one hand on a cocked hip while the other tossed her hair back over her shoulder. The girl looked almost her own age, much to Gumi's surprise.

"Where the hell do you get off harassing complete strangers to find me when I don't even know who the hell you are?" the girl barked. "And, if you're looking for my business, I don't do chicks. Go fuck yourself if you're that desperate, or do you not know how? I'm sure you could find an answer on the Internet. That place is full of horny bastards."

Gumi's cheeks reddened at the girls harsh words. She didn't pay much attention to Gakupo, but she was sure he was incredibly uncomfortable. "I have a girlfriend, for your information. I don't need to pay to get laid."

"So should I leave, then?" Lily questioned, scowling.

"No," Gumi replied. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, "I want you to come live with me, okay, Lily?"

There was a moment of silence before Gakupo screeched, "What the hell are you doing, Gumi? You can't be serious?"

"Are you psychotic?" Lily questioned at the same moment. "Why on earth would I go live with you, you freak?"

"Because you have nowhere else to go," Gumi challenged coolly, gazing at the girl's fiery blue eyes as the sparked with rage. She ignored Gakupo's outburst completely. "Abusive father, dead mother, correct?"

"That applies to half of us out her, jackass," the girl spat, though it was obvious that the words had struck a chord in her. Still, she kept up with her bad attitude. "I'm not impressed."

Lily turned to leave, but Gumi wasn't worried. She didn't yell out to the girl. Instead, she calmly stated, knowing her voice would carry to the blonde's ears, "I know Len."

Lily froze. Gumi smiled, knowing that she'd won.

**Author's Note: This was actually done yesterday but as I was recently telling my virtual big brother, I **_**hate**_** editing. So I was lazy. Sorry. I promise I'll be giving Gakupo more attention than he got in Always and Forever. And Lily's going to be a major character. So, thanks for the reviews and alerts and all that! Just so you know, this fic is lightly based on a few songs, which I'll reveal along the way. One of them isn't a Vocaloid song but whatever. Right, anin, you brought this up so I figured I'd address it. The reason I have so many bi characters is incredibly based on the fact that there's next to no male Vocaloids and I refuse to work with genderbents and pitchloids (no offense to those who like them). Right, and, Nekofan123, that requested Rin and Miku fic is coming soon, sorry it's so late! You see, I wrote it, then I broke the USB it was saved on and I've been too lazy to rewrite it. But it'll be done soon, I swear! **

**And, anin, thank you very much for your kind review. It really made my day. And I do currently have a novel I'm working on. It's a young adult novel of around sixty thousand words. I've completed it and I'm onto the editing stage. It only had four characters and it focuses on their dysfunctional relationships and psychological issues, and I feared that making one into a lesbian would put lesbianism into a negative light so, despite the fact that I initially had two of the girls dating, I removed that from the story. But, trust me, once I manage to get one published, the next will be a full out yuri story.**


	4. Arguing Peers

Chapter Four

Arguing Peers

"Rin!" Aoki called cheerily, attacking the blonde and linking arms with her. She giggled and looked up at Rin with a smile. Aoki was a delicate, dainty girl, and she still remained a few inches shorter than Rin's five foot one inch. Rin was used to having everyone be taller than her, other than Neru, so it was still a shock every time she noticed the girl's height. "I can't believe it! This is the first time my friends'll get to meet you! I'm so excited!"

"Yeah," Rin mumbled half-heartedly, smiling delicately. She was a little afraid to meet Aoki's friends. She already had enough trouble remembering information about the friends she currently had. Adding more to remember definitely wouldn't help.

"Wait till you meet Lui," she giggled, her face red with excitement. "He'd totally fit in with your gang. You'll see what I mean." She put a finger to his lip in contemplation. "In retrospect, Cul might, too." Then, Aoki laughed and stuck out her tongue playfully. "Just kidding. We joke about it, but it's not really true. Cul's got a boyfriend, after all. Or, at least, she says she does. We're not really sure since she says he lives in America. Weird name, too. I can't even pronounce it. Aru–Arrrr–Al! Ahaha, I got it!" She laughed cheerily. "Yeah, my English isn't very good. Yours is, though. You spoke it fluently with that guy on the train. Where'd you learn it?"

"My friend Iroha," Rin replied uncertainly. Right, yes, it was Iroha. Iroha was good with English pronunciation. That's why she called Gumi Gum-Gum. Rin and the others couldn't even pronounce that properly. "She has some pen pal in England. I forget his name. Starts with an O, I think. In any case, she likes using English pronunciation and stuff. She ends her sentences with 'mew' instead of 'nya'."

Rin might've kept talking if it weren't for the fact that someone cried out loudly, "Aoki! Look out!"

And then, Aoki was knocked to the ground by a red blur. Rin widened her eyes in shock at the scene as a girl with flaming red hair drawn back into a spiked ponytail captured Aoki in a giant hug, not unlike Iroha did sometimes.

"Aoki, you'll never _believe_ what Ring said! She said that your friend looks like that guy! You know, the guy she was totally into who convinced her to run away with him! Isn't that just super creepy?"

The redhead continued to gush on and on until Aoki laughed and pushed her off. "Give me some time to breathe, goof," Aoki laughed, her face bright red as she glanced at Rin. "You're totally creeping Rin out."

"Like my friends were any better," Rin offered with a smile, rolling her eyes as she thought of Aoki's reaction to the group of lesbians, polygamists, and student-teacher affairs. Not to mention Rin's over-protective, jealous-type girlfriend.

"At least they don't bowl you over in the middle of the street," Aoki challenged.

Rin resisted to urge to reply that, no, they didn't bowl her down in the middle of the street, but, if she believed in what Gumi told her, on more than one occasion, she and Gumi had rolled down the hill behind her house together, ending up in the meadow that was like a second home to them. Now, considering Gumi and Rin had secretly been in love with the other, which was worse? Unless Cul loved Aoki, of course, but Cul apparently had a boyfriend.

"We can all see your panties, Aoki," came a voice from behind Rin. Rin turned around to see a snobbish, rich-type girl standing behind her, wearing a pleated skirt and a scowl. Her hair was short, the colour a mixture of orange and yellow. Beside her stood a girl with long, light blue hair falling just as long as Miku's. How in the world did she brush that?

"Lui, you're such a meanie!" Aoki exclaimed to the short-haired girl, hurriedly pulling her ruffled black skirt down. "Jerkface!" She then looped and arm through Rin's and smiled at her. "See what I mean? Lui could totally fit in with you guys, right?"

Rin stared at the short-haired girl curiously. Was she missing something? Perhaps Lui had commented on her panties because she was checking Aoki out. Rin was so caught up in her thoughts that her natural meekness seemed to vanish for a moment. "Are you gay?" Rin wondered, tilting her head to the side.

"Crossing-dressing doesn't automatically make me gay," the rich-type girl snapped, glaring harshly at Rin. "That's stereotyping. Why, are you?"

Rin, while trying to understand what the girl had said, replied, "Yeah, I am. I have a girlfriend."

Then, the girl with light blue hair snorted. Rin looked at her curiously. The girl looked away innocently, though annoyance flickered clearly in her blue eyes. Rin felt a spark of anger and wanted to ask the girl what her problem was, but she couldn't find the courage to.

"Lui almost looks like a girl, doesn't he?" Aoki questioned, smiling.

_Wait, what?_

"I just happen to like girl's clothes better," the short-haired girl stated.

_You're not a . . . ?_

"And it looks so good on you!" Aoki exclaimed.

_You're a . . . ._

"Honestly, I totally thought he was kidding that first day of school when he came in wearing the girl's uniform. I mean, sure, Cul wears the guy's uniform, but a couple other girls do that too. It was the first time I'd ever seen a guy wear that uniform. I just figured he did it on a dare, but, to this day, I've never seen him wear pants."

"You're a boy?" Rin exclaimed, unable to control herself.

"Of course, dumbass," Lui snorted, narrowing his eyes at her. She would never tell him that doing that made him look even more like a girl. And that she found herself a little attracted to him when he did that. "Do I look like a girl?"

Rin clamped her mouth shut and looked down, incredibly embarrassed now that her inhibitions had returned. Luckily for her, Aoki was there beside her. The blue-and-violet-haired girl tilted her head back and laughed loudly, drawing much attention to herself. "He's pretty sexy, huh?" She narrowed her eyes playfully at Rin and nudged her, a hint of flirtation in her gaze. "Doesn't it make you want him?"

Rin, flustered, redness spreading to her ears, closed her eyes to shout out as loud as she could, "No no no! I love Gumi and only Gumi because she's my girlfriend and we're in love!"

Silence followed her words. Rin, utterly humiliated, opened her eyes slowly, gazing around herself to see many people watching her. She caught the gaze of a couple classmates and looked away shyly. This wasn't good. She and Gumi weren't exactly open about their relationship at school. Monday was not going to be fun.

"Yo, Rin!"

And, before Rin could turn around to look at the speaker, said person gently gave her a hit on the top of the head. It didn't hurt, but the shock caused Rin to hurriedly cover her head and look sheepishly to the shorter girl behind her, one Neru Akita.

"'Sup?" Neru wondered.

"We were really hoping that was you," Haku stated, smiling delicately. "I don't know what we would have done if it wasn't."

Rin heard someone speak and turned to see who it was. The girl with light blue hair stared at them, her gaze turning vicious when she turned to Rin, but, before that, she had looked shocked and a little afraid.

"I know you," Haku then murmured gently, her red eyes meeting the other girl's blue ones. "You're Ring Suzune."

Ring let go then. "How could you be friends with someone like her?" she spat at Haku, terrifying the silver-haired girl and causing Neru to step protectively in front of her. "This girl"–she jutted her chin toward Rin–"went back to him, even after she was freed. Gumi freed her, and she went and ruined all of that. Gumi gave herself to him to save her, and she wouldn't even respect that sacrifice."

Rin froze, catching on immediately. "You knew Len?"

"Len?" Aoki wondered, looking up at Rin curiously.

"For your information, she went back to free us all," Neru spat at the blue-haired girl. "If it weren't for her, we'd still be in Len's world, thinking of nothing but how best to please him."

"But what she did to Gumi—" Ring insisted.

"She was just putting on an act," the usually-timid Haku defended. "She had to get Len close to her so she could inject the poison into him."

"It's her fault you were taken," the bluette then insisted.

"And it's thanks to her that we weren't taken instead by that psychopath who was on the loose," Neru snapped. "If we hadn't been taken by Len, we could've ended up like Luka, just like she and your friend almost did."

Aoki's friend had terrible rage flaring in her light blue eyes. "That doesn't mean I'll ever forgive her! She hurt Gumi so much!"

Gumi? Rin had hurt her? But she'd just been trying to . . . .

"Do you know what hell Gumi put her through in return, Ring?" Neru snapped. "Do you know how long Rin spent alone when Gumi ditched her back at the beginning of high school?"

"Neru, stop it," Rin whispered, too quiet for Neru to hear. But Aoki did, and she held Rin's arm tightly in an attempt to offer some comfort.

"Like you know!" Ring barked in return. "You weren't even her friend before Len!"

"Everyone knew," Haku argued. "I barely even knew her, but everyone knew that Gumi was her only friend, and then Gumi left her. Not that Gumi's the only one to blame in all this, but you don't understand like we do, Ring."

"Please stop," Rin whispered, still unheard.

"I understand all that I need to," Ring hissed.

Then, Rin felt herself being pulled back sharply, Aoki refusing to release her and going along for the ride. She looked up to see whose hands it was that were on her shoulders. Lui's fiery gaze stared at the three bickering girls.

"She said to stop," he said calmly. "Ring, stop being an idiot and let it go. Rin's done nothing to hurt you, got it? It's your own fault for falling for it. I don't know exactly what happened with him, but you have to let it go."

"I don't have to listen to you," Ring challenged.

"You don't have to, but you will," Lui said with absolute certainty.

The two stared off for a while before Ring ruefully averted her gaze. Then, the boy said, "We're here to go shopping, right? Then let's go." He glanced at Haku and Neru. "If you two will behave, you can come along."

"Don't mind if we do," Neru said coolly, glaring at Ring, who returned the gesture. Linking hands with her girlfriend, she walked a couple steps behind Rin and Aoki, who remained linked together and walked behind the two in the lead, Lui and Ring. Cul had invited herself back with the two newbies and chatted excitedly with them.

"What's their situation?" Rin wondered to Aoki about the two in the lead a little while later once Haku and Neru were busily telling their entire life story to the redhead and Ring and Lui talked about schoolwork.

"Ring and Lui?" Aoki wondered. "Childhood friends. They've always been inseparable."

"Like me and Gumi," Rin murmured wistfully, suddenly missing her girlfriend. "Inseparable, always and forever."

**Author's Note: I refuse to make Lui into some sweet girly-boy. Even if I put him in a skirt. Yes, I definitely needed a crossdresser in here, too. Oh, awesome anime you should watch (I watched it on simulcast when it was being released in Japan) called Wandering Son about a crossdressing boy. It was really good. So, aside from that, hope you enjoyed. Also, I'm putting up a new poll every week, so please take the time to vote if you can. I'd love your input. Also, I have a GumixRin v-day fic planned so please vote for a different pairing, people :P**


	5. Arriving Roommates

**Author's Note: Okay, anyone who plans on buying the hard copy edition of Always and Forever and who's yet to vote on the poll, please go do so NOW! Like before reading this chapter even, got it?**

Chapter Five

Arriving Roommates

Gumi stared off with Kiyoteru for a while, daring him to speak first. The man looked completely lost, gazing at the girl sitting beside Gumi on the couch. The other girl was still flicking through channels on the television, paying no heed to the incomer as she drew another Pocky out of the red container and promptly bit down on it until only the biscuit stub was left, popping that last bit into her mouth and swiftly taking another. The television droned on for a moment before shifting to another voice, then another, then another. Rin's cat _mrrp_ed and trod over to Kiyoteru, rubbing against the man's legs to welcome him home. Finally, the man spoke.

"Gumi, who's this?" he wondered, trying his best to be polite in the face of a stranger who still didn't bother to look up.

"Her name's Lily," Gumi replied innocently, smiling cheekily at him.

"Is she a friend of yours?" he wondered, probably questioning why she wore nothing but a large baggy t-shirt – she wore minishorts underneath, he just didn't see that - that Gumi had stolen from her elder brother some time back. As much as she hated her brother, that little-sister blood made her miss him, and the shirt was a great comfort on those nights when she'd wake up, wondering when he'd be home.

"Not particularly," Gumi said pensively, contemplating. "She's more like a research assignment."

Kiyoteru looked even more confused now. "And what exactly is it about Lily that makes her a research assignment?"

"I'm a prostitute," Lily stated bluntly.

Kiyoteru's eyes widened in shock and he exclaimed, "Gumi, why are you bringing prostitutes into my apartment?"

Lily cut in before Gumi could reply and turned to the greenette for a moment. "You live with this guy? I mean, he's pretty damn sexy." She got a nod in response and continued onward. "Score. Do you put out or something?" Gumi resisted the urge to laugh as the blonde turned her gaze back to the television continued coolly to the teacher, "Gumi's looking into prostitution as a future career. I think she has potential."

"Your grades aren't _that_ bad, Gumi," Kiyoteru insisted. It freaked Gumi out a little the way that he acted like a parent, especially considering he was her best friend's boyfriend. "If you just studied with Haku and Neru a little more . . . ."

"Too much work," groaned Gumi, covering her ears. Then, she laughed and informed him, "I'm not looking into prostitution as a career. That was just a joke. Actually, Lily's here because you and Miku interrupted my time with Rin and I can't wait any longer. She kind of looks like Rin, doesn't she?"

Kiyoteru's face burned bright red as his mouth flapped like that of a fish while he tried to come up with something to say, but nothing came out. Gumi laughed once more and said, "Okay, calm down. It's none of that. Yes, Lily's a prostitute, but she doesn't have to be anymore. Do you know why?"

"I don't think I want to know," the man expressed.

"Because she's going to move in with us!" Gumi exclaimed, triumphant.

Kiyoteru, as Gumi knew, wasn't one for confrontation. Still, he was man enough to inform her bluntly, "No, she's not."

Gumi pouted and wrapped her arms around Lily, the scent of her elder brother wafted off of the baggy shirt. She could sense the disgust radiating from the other girl, but Lily was wise enough to know that now wasn't a good time to act on those feelings. "Kiyo, you're so mean."

Kiyoteru's face burned bright red in indignation as he sputtered, "Gumi, I'm your teacher. You can't speak so casually to me. And you can't bring in some random girl off the streets and just expect me to take her in."

"But you took me in."

This was the first time Gumi had actually seen Kiyoteru angry, and he was about to see her angry for the first time with his next words. "You're Miku's best friend and I couldn't very well let you go back to living with that wretched brother of yours."

Gumi froze immediately upon his words, just as he did. She released Lily immediately, who shifted uncomfortably as she caught onto the mood. Gumi didn't want him to see the expression forming on her face just as she didn't want to see any more of that regret on his. She allowed her bangs to fall forward, blocking her face, and stood up. Icily, she murmured, "Let's go, Lily. We'll go see if Piko and Iroha will put you up."

"Wait, Gumi," Kiyoteru requested, lightly touching her wrist as he tried to stop her, but Gumi jerked sharply away, flashing angry eyes toward him.

"He's still my brother, even if he is a jackass," she growled. "I'm the only one who has the right to talk badly of him."

Lily seemed to be growing uncomfortable, so Gumi took the other girl's hand and snapped, "Let's go." Glaring back at Kiyoteru, she stated, "I won't be coming home tonight. Deal with it."

"Teru, I'm home!" Miku sang, striding through the doorway just as Lily and Gumi were about to leave. Lily seemed distraught now, her hands sweating as she gripped tightly onto Gumi and locked her gaze to the floor. Miku paused, immediately catching onto the tension, and wondered, "Gumi, are you cheating on Rin?"

"Don't any of you understand how long forever is?" Gumi snapped, jerking on Lily's wrist and pushing past Miku in the doorway. "Rin's my girlfriend, and I'm not going to cheat on her. Am I not allowed to have female friends?"

"Gumi?" Gumi felt a little bad when she sensed the hurt in her best friend's voice, but that didn't stop her from hurriedly leaving the apartment. She stopped in the elevator and let out a sigh of relief when it shut. Still, she felt Lily's gaze on her, so she hurriedly gathered herself.

"Sorry about that," she said breezily, forcing a relaxed smile as she let go of the other girl's hand.

Lily didn't look even a little convinced, and the timidness that had appeared moments ago seemed to vanish completely. "You know, Gumi, I'm not selling myself on the streets because I want to be. I understand what you're going through."

Gumi leaned against the large mirror walls of the elevator and let out a resigned sigh, staring at Lily and searching her gaze to see that understanding that she claimed to be there. The hard, guardedness was still there, but she looked a little more at ease than she had on the streets. "Look, Lily, do you know everything about Len?"

Lily averted her gaze, staring at her own reflection while Gumi stared in those reflected blue eyes as well. "Yeah, I know most of it. He said he'd take me away to another world. I'm not sure if he was ever really going to, though. I think he was just fooling me to let him have it for free." She laughed with darkened eyes. "It worked, I guess, because he just left when I finally asked him to take me away."

The elevator came to a standstill, and the doors slowly opened. However, now that she was talking to Lily, she didn't want to move. So, she pressed the button for the top floor of the apartment building and steadily felt the machine climb upward. "Everything he told you was true, probably. Did you see his tattoos?"

"We had sex, Gumi," Lily said blandly, utterly unimpressed as her sharp tongue began to find its way back into her mouth. "Obviously I saw them."

"The blue rose outline was still there, right?" Gumi questioned, memories of Len ringing in her mind, an array of contrasting emotions filling her heart as love and hate for the boy fought to regain control.

"It used to be full, but it faded to an outline," Lily stated.

"That's because I traded myself for Rin," Gumi informed her as the elevator opened once more to invite someone else on. However, upon seeing the seriousness in the girls' gazes, the attendee waited for the next one and allowed the machine to continue upward. "The blue bird came when the blue rose faded, right?"

"Black bird," Lily corrected out of what seemed to be habit. "Len always told me that it was black."

Gumi grinned a tad, her heart swelling and sinking at the same time. "Well, it was blue, because Rin and I were both blue."

Lily was quiet for a moment before questioning, "You were his favourite, weren't you?"

The next words came out without Gumi's knowledge. "God I hope so." She gasped the moment she heard them and clamped a hand over her mouth. Hurriedly, she covered, "I mean, if I wasn't, I'd never have been able to save Rin, right? That's why I want to be his favourite, that's all. Nothing else."

"I'm not your girlfriend, Gumi," was all Lily said next, continuing to stare at herself. "You don't have to lie to me. I love him just as much as you do. The only difference is that you got closure on it all."

Gumi smirked, painful memories surfacing. "And by closure, do you mean watching my girlfriend kill him?"

Lily face fell visibly. So she hadn't known. "So he's dead?"

"And gone," Gumi replied, trying to force all grief away. "He's still in his world, and there's no way to get back there."

The two girls were quiet for a while before Lily finally voiced, "We could find a way into his world."

Gumi closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath. She didn't want to admit that those were the words she'd been longing to hear. "Yes, we could find a way." To redeem herself for her betrayal, she added, "He has something that belongs to Rin."

"And what's that?" Lily kindly questioned, probably to avoid losing the favour of her fellow conspirator.

"Her memories," Gumi stated. "He destroyed them all."

Lily stared at Gumi for once. "Well, if she's fine without them, why do you need them?"

Gumi smiled grimly, finally confessing everything she'd been feeling since Rin returned in one simple statement. "You have no idea how much it hurts to have so many beautiful memories of us that she can't even remember. How we met, the day she saved me, our meeting once more in high school. None of it. It's all gone."

"And you're sure she won't just fall in love with Len the moment you regain her memories? She loved him too, right?"

Gumi was able to say with absolute certainty, "But she loved me more."

**Author's Note: Wow, comedy to serious in this chapter. I'm insane. Anywho, my lovely girlfriend is going to play a piano edition of Always and Forever for me. Isn't that sweet? (In other words, get working on that, Kai-chan.) And I just wanted to see what people thought about this, but I know I'm not far into this story yet (30 chapters), but I've got it all plotted out but I recently though of how I'd like to make a third book for it (because I hd an idea that wouldn't fit in with the plot for How Long Is Forever) and I was wondering if you'd feel that was dragging it on too long or anything. Honesty please, people, because I don't want to make a third if you'll be bored reading it, but I work in a way that I incorporate hints for the plot from way back when (anyone who rereads Always and Forever should see that) so I'd need to be able to work it into this plot. Sorry, long AN, please let me know what you think.**


	6. Unrelenting Interruptions

**Author's Note: Important poll up, please vote for the story you want to see updated most often. And this is How Long Is Forever? (I changed the title)**

Chapter Six

Unrelenting Interruptions

"Rin!" whined Gumi, splaying herself over Rin's lap as they shared the piano bench in Rin's room. Rin giggled and looked down at her girlfriend, waiting for the complaint, but Gumi said nothing. In fact, her joy seemed to have vanished instantly, a billion unknown thoughts running through her head. Rin furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Gumi?" she wondered.

Gumi shook out the cobwebs and grinned up at Rin. "C'mon, Rin, I don't want to study." Then, her eyes narrowed to flirtatious slits and she purred, "I can think of something more fun for us to do."

"Oh please don't," insisted Miku as she walked through the door, followed by Iroha, Miki, Piko, and Haku. "Spare us."

"And she even interrupts us in your house," sighed Gumi, sitting up and making her way over to Rin's bed. Once she'd taken her seat, she slammed her back against the bed's surface, fanning her green hair against the light blue comforter. "You suck, Miku, you know? I let you and Kiyoteru—"

"Okay, enough of that!" Piko said hurriedly, his face burning bright red as he waved his hands frantically before him.

Rin stifled a laugh as she caught sight of the mischievous look in Gumi's eyes. A huge grin crept onto the greenette's faced as she continued innocently, "I was just going to talk about how she and Kiyoteru have se—"

"He's a teacher so just stop talking!" Piko begging, shutting his eyes and clamping his hands over his ears. "I don't want to hear about this!"

Miku and Iroha tilted their heads to the side, standing on either side of him as they watched. Miku looked to Iroha, who merely shrugged and allowed the other girl to grab Piko's wrist, pull his hand away from his ear, and say loudly into his ear, "I had sex with Teru."

"Poor Piko," sympathized Miki, smiling delicately at the boy as he dashed as far as he could from the girls, taking a seat beside Rin on the piano bench. Haku nodded her agreement.

"I want you three to know that I hate you," Piko said, glaring at Gumi, Miku, and Iroha.

"Twosome tonight then, Miki?" Iroha questioned the cherry-haired girl, whose cheeks reddened a dash as she held her composure with an innocent smile, acting as though she didn't understand.

"Oh look, girl-girl flirting. Where's Gakupo when we need him?" Miku laughed, flopping down beside Gumi and lying down with a sigh. "I'm bored now. Can we go home?"

"We haven't even started studying yet!" argued Haku, quickly withdrawing it with an apology at the slightest glance from the lazy students.

"Yes, but I don't trust that hooker with my boyfriend," the tealette huffed before jumping up with a harsh shriek. She glared down at Gumi and snapped, "What the heck was that, you jerk?"

Gumi blinked up at her innocently. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You pulled on my hair!" exclaimed Miku.

"No I didn't!" snapped the greenette, though she smiled impishly. "Besides, even if I did, it was probably by accident. You have so much, really. I can't help it." Gumi sat up and smiled at Rin. "Hey, Rin, remember back in middle school when my hair was long? You used to do that all the time, too."

Rin froze. She had no idea what Gumi was talking about. Gumi had once had long hair? She'd had no idea. Gumi remembered her memory loss quickly, though, and said regretfully, "Oh, right, sorry. No memory." She laughed lightly, though it was an awkward laugh, and Rin could see that she was disappointed. Rin felt a thin trail of guilt coursing through her veins, though it was coupled with irritation. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't remember.

"So, your boyfriend has a hooker?" Gumi said pointedly to Miku, quickly shifting the conversation.

Miku looked confused. "Um, no, no he doesn't. I meant Lily. Ow! Dammit, Gumi!" Miku winced in pain as Gumi's hand leaned on a trailing twintail and slapped her friend's wrist. "What's your problem?"

Haku's voice sounded. "Lily?" The group paused to look at her. Rin couldn't help but notice something in the others' gazes, like the name meant something to them. Was that someone Rin was meant to know? "As in . . . _that _Lily?"

Even Piko seemed to know who they were talking about. He shifted uncomfortably, glancing to Miki and Iroha for support, but their eyes were locked on Gumi and Miku. Rin gazed at her girlfriend curiously. Who was Lily?

"Yes, _that_ Lily," Gumi laughed, waving her hand dismissively. Her cheeriness seemed so fake though. Rin couldn't help but feel left out, and she found herself suddenly yearning to be with Aoki and her friends instead. "Happened to bump into her, is all. She wanted to talk to Kiyoteru and they were still talking when we left. _Right_, Miku?"

Miku glanced at Rin, cyan eyes meeting blue. She looked . . . guilty. Rin would ask her about this later. Miku never felt guilty, so Rin was sure that she'd snap if asked. Miku smiled half-heartedly and agreed, "Yeah, right."

Gumi smiled, a feigned smile, and slapped her hands together. "So, let's get to studying, shall we?"

"Should we not wait for Neru and Gakupo?" Miki wondered.

"Gakkun had to work," Gumi said, slipping onto her knees before the kotatsu table Rin's parents had helped her set up a couple days ago. "And Nerune said she wasn't going to be coming today."

"Nerune?" laughed Iroha, who had always slipped under the kotatsu. "I don't think Nene would like you nicknaming her, Gum-Gum."

"Look who's talking," retorted Gumi good-naturedly. "At least I don't give random English nicknames that no one else can pronounce."

"It makes them unique," Iroha scoffed indignantly. "Unlike your stupid nicknames."

"Okay, people, studying!" ordered Miku, sitting under the kotatsu with Miki. "Everybody get down here and study or you will be forced to freeze."

"Coming," Rin chimed distractedly. Her mind was still on Lily. Who was that girl, and why did she seem to be important to everyone else?

. . .

The only sound in the room was that of Iroha chomping down on Pocky, Piko scribbling away in his notebook, Miki turning a page, and Gumi braiding a sleeping Miku's hair. Rin's eyes ran along the words once more before she glanced to the ceiling again and repeated them in her head. She ducked her head down to the next vocabulary word and repeated the process as the others continued their studying. Haku flipped to the next page in her notebook, pressing her cheek against her fist as she rested her elbow on the table. Iroha didn't bother covering her mouth as a huge yawned escaped her, and her head fell onto Piko's shoulder as she gazed drearily at his notebook, opting out of trying to make out anything in her own scrambled notes anymore. Piko and Haku were still alert, though rather bored, as they studied their notes. Rin was losing interest again, distracted by the delicate movements of her girlfriend's calloused hands weaving together three clumps of a teal twintail. It was mesmerizing, those yellow-painted nails tipping fingers that moved with such certainty as their green-eyed owner stared at the product in great seriousness. Rin fantasized for a moment of having long hair of her own for Gumi to stroke into elegant braids. She ran the silken white fabric of her bow between her fingers, wishing her hair was grown out.

Gumi caught her staring and smiled, a question in her eyes. Rin wasn't sure what that question was, but she nodded anyway and followed Gumi's lead as the greenette dropped the teal hair and stood up. Passing by Miki, she murmured something about a snack run. The cherry-haired girl nodded absently, so Gumi beckoned for Rin to follow. The blonde obliged, keeping silent until they were far out of the house's reach and their hands were locked together between them. It seemed wrong to speak, so Rin rested her head on Gumi's shoulder as she'd seen Iroha do earlier to Piko and let out a sigh, so completely content in that moment. She walked in step with Gumi, wishing to close her eyes and simply trust Gumi to lead the way but knowing better than to do something so ridiculous.

It was just around sunset, the time when the sky was a faint purple as the reds of the sunset and the pale blue of the sky melded together. Rin felt sleepy, so incredibly sleepy. Without a word, she lifted her head once more and tugged on Gumi's hand. Gumi gazed at her curiously, but Rin only placed a finger to her lips and smiled, tugging once more as she began to walk back the way they came. Gumi smiled curiously and let the blonde lead the way back to the house. Only, rather than reenter the house, Rin led the other girl behind it, in the direction of their school. She didn't go that far, though. She led Gumi downhill, though the meadow, until they were halfway to the bottom. Then, she stopped and gently pulled Gumi to the ground with her. Gumi rested on her back and gazed up at the descending sun, and Rin joined her, curling in on the greenette and resting her head in the crook of her girlfriend's arm. A blush lit her face as she did so, but she was too happy to care as her eyes gently shut. She could feel Gumi's breathing as her arm rested on top of the girl's stomach, wishing to be as close as she could be out here, in their place, the meadow. This was a place for them and only them.

As important as Aoki was to her, she wanted nothing of that girl here.

"Rin!"

The tiny girl's voice rang through the serene air. Gumi's tension arose immediately, and Rin wanted to close her eyes tighter and pretend she hadn't heard. She just wanted to stay here, with Gumi, but she knew the moment was ruined now for her girlfriend, so she sat up and looked to the figure running toward them.

"Hey, Ao-chan," she said with a slightly forced smile.

"I knew it was you," the intruder giggled, stopping before the couple in her complete obliviousness. Maybe if she'd just leave now, Rin could convince Gumi to return to how they were a moment ago. "I was stopping by your house to see if you wanted to join Cul and I. We're going to a movie."

"Actually, I'm supposed to be studying," Rin said apologetically, keeping an eye on Gumi all the while. "We were just, uh, taking a break."

Aoki make no effort to hide her disappointment. "Oh, okay. Another time, then."

Rin felt guilty immediately. "Sorry."

"No, no! It's alright!" Aoki insisted, though the way she was fidgeting and pulling at the hem of her dress made it obvious that it wasn't. "I'll just tell Cul that we'll have to go some other time!"

"You can still go without me," insisted Rin, feeling even worse now but still having concern about upsetting Gumi lingering at the edge of her mind.

Aoki looked away now, embarrassment colouring her face. "N-no, it's alright. I don't really want to go if you're not coming."

Gumi's silence was growing worrisome, but Rin couldn't help but wonder, "Why not? Weren't you planning on going, anyway?"

Aoki's next words were mumbled, barely intelligible. "I don't like going downtown without you."

Rin understood instantly why and offered, "Why don't you bring Lui? I'm sure he could protect you better than I could." Well, that was a little blunt, but Rin was eager to get back to Gumi.

And still, Aoki flinched. Then, she smiled tensely and said, "R-right. Okay. Well, see you."

Rin watched her go, knowing that there was no way Aoki was actually going to go to the movie. She looked at Gumi for assistance, but Gumi's expression had grown guarded, revealing nothing.


End file.
